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Latest news from the PlayStation Day 2008 event in London drops a release date for Killzone 2. Looks like the game has been pinned down for a February 2009 release -- at least for Europe anyhow. That's a little later than we had hoped, but it's all well that it is coming. Just try not to think about it being a year off.

According to VideoGamer.com, who've apparently gotten hold of a Sony UK release schedule, three big PS3 exclusives will be releasing this coming Fall in the British Isles. Killzone 2 and LittleBigPlanet should show up on our beloved console sometime in September, while Resistance 2 caps the trifecta for an expected November release. Sony confirmed that these dates are correct.

Great. Now, we just need to wait for SCEA to give us the heads up on these games and their release dates over here across the Atlantic. Hopefully, North American dates won't be any different. If these games do continue on schedule and actually get released by Fall, then it's safe to say that PS3 owners will be very happy gamers indeed.

[Via Joystiq]

Each week Jeff Engel and Geoff Brooks contribute Counting Rupees, a column on the business behind gaming:

Apparently, 2008 is the year of the PS3. After what most consider a very shaky first year, the media is abuzz with a comeback for the company that was once king of consoles. EGM's March issue proudly proclaims on its cover that it's "The Revenge of the PS3". EDGE's December issue was entitled "The Empire Strikes Back" and even Joystiq's PS3 Fanboy has given us 10 reasons why the PS3 is back in the swing of things. Some analysts have proclaimed that the PS3 will do at least as well as the 360 in 2008, and others have the PS3 edging out the 360 by 2010 or even the Wii by 2011. Clearly, everyone is pointing to 2008 being a turning point of sorts for the Cell-powered beast. But is it actually true?

Let's focus on, at least initially, Sony's battle against the 360. Certainly, the PS3 has a lot of things going for it. Blu-ray has officially won the next-gen DVD war; upcoming games, such as Metal Gear Solid 4, Killzone 2, and LittleBigPlanet show tremendous potential; and it has seemingly found a price point that people are willing to pay (as they did originally for the 360). In the US, at least so far this year, Sony has managed to outsell the 360 according to January and February NPD figures. But will it be enough?

We're afraid your secret wish for Go! Team fueled romps through velvety, user-submitted playgrounds isn't going to be fulfilled for quite some time -- neither will your desire to play the highly anticipated sequel to the original "Halo Killer". According to a recent post on Three Speech (a "semi official" Playstation blog), both LittleBigPlanet and Killzone 2 aren't going to see the light of day until September or October of next year. While an official due date for Killzone 2 hasn't been nailed down yet, this new information contradicts the last release date we heard for LittleBigPlanet, which was "early 2008."

We're holding out hope that these new schedules for big black's two potential killer apps are pure conjecture, but considering Three Speech's partnership with Sony, we're guessing that they know something that we don't; like, for instance, which dark, secret pastes give Phil Harrison's dome its intoxicating sheen.

[Via 1UP]

Even virtual worlds need to visit the powder room before parading in public. The practice of 'touching up' is something our shallow, image-conscious society accepts (heck, we expect it!), so long as the object doesn't stray too far from our idealized imaginations. So when Guerrilla Games rolled out a new batch of Killzone 2 screens, captured from this year's E3 demo, fans noticed the images looked a little too good to be true, drawing obvious connections to Killzone's infamous E3 2005 debut trailer, which substituted actual game content with pre-rendered 'target' video.

Guerrilla QA manager Seb Downie joined the discussion on the PlayStation Forums, admitting, "[The screenshots] are only the tiniest bit touched up ... there was a little bit of colour-correction done and some minor polish, but nothing major." The comparison image above, also posted in the discussion (via PSU), seems to corroborate Downie's admission, revealing sharper colors and deeper contrasts in the 'doctored' screen on the right (effects that seem within the limits of standard display settings; i.e., a television could be capable of displaying both the dull and stylized versions of this scene by tinkering with its display settings). Also, the "original" version of the image is a frame snagged directly from video, so it's subject to a certain amount of blurring that's not necessarily an accurate depiction of gameplay frozen in that instant. In any case, how can a screenshot ever tell the truth? Downie concludes that Killzone 2 simply "looks better in motion."

Killzone 2 producer Steven Ter Heide and Guerrilla Games managing director Herman Hulst would be out of jobs if it weren't for the PS3 and Blu-ray. In an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine UK, Heide and Hulst tag team to deliver major props for their system of choice, all while bashing a certain competing console.

"We really need Blu-ray to make the game. I don't know how you could fit it on Xbox 360 without taking some shortcuts", producer Heide explains. And with graphics like those seen in this 25 minute video, there's little doubt that he isn't just speaking the company line.

Continuing on about Killzone 2's Blu-ray dependency, Hulst adds, "Blu-ray isn't important for watching movies; we need it for making games". Something tells us that a few companies beg to differ.

Because we can probably hook that up for you. Ah, speak of the devil and up he jumps, here's nearly a half-hour of Killzone 2 footage straight from Leipzig. It's a hot clip, too. Thrill as the action occasionally starts after long periods of stopping! You won't believe how far the camera can zoom in and out!

...OK, so this is admittedly more of a making-of segment, with a developer explaining some of the tools that Guerrila Games has at its disposal to create the game. But if you're starved for Killzone 2 content, we imagine that you're not going to be too picky.

[Via PS3F]

Perhaps we exaggerate a little when we say "all things", but Guerilla Games did give a lot of answers to many of the questions we like thinking about regarding Killzone 2. We'll list out what was discovered below.

• The politically correct term for the release date right now is "2008".
• While the demo is pretty awesome, it's just one level. Incomplete, at that, with no streaming technology implemented yet.
• There will be an online beta at some point (no time soon, we're sure) but there will also be links to the official Killzone website and integration into Home to keep us busy until that time comes.
• After the infamous 2005 trailer, GG was pretty unsure of if they could actually pull off those graphics, but the recent amount of press for the true game has bolstered their belief that they have, in fact, come quite close to that original trailer and are very proud of that. We are too!
• No word yet on user-generated content.
• They refuse to compare their game to Halo 3 because the two games are just that -- two games. They're different in play style and artistic direction. They feel it's more important to improve on what was lackluster in the first Killzone than try to "beat" some other game.

In addition to all this, Guerilla Games is trying to keep Killzone 2 heads and shoulders above the original in the field of gameplay -- busting out alternate routes, different weapons for different types of gameplay, and an all-around greater scope will prove to keep the game worth playing after that first completion. We don't know when we'll hear from these guys again, so let's just let them get crackin' on the game for a while, okay?

It's a gigantic Killzone 2 developer walk-through! The above video is incredibly long, as you could have probably deduced from our subject line -- about 25 minutes. You get a little more backstory into the game, but the real impressive part of this alpha build footage is the freezing of the camera and getting to check out the level the same way the devs get to look at it. This isn't really a gameplay demo, but more of a showing of what's behind the curtain and we greatly appreciate it. We can't wait to see this game get further along production, possibly to the point of a demo. That would be swell, Guerrila Games! If you really dig this video, you can download it and show it off to your friends if you'd like.

Straight from Leipzig, the developers at Guerrilla demonstrated some of the gameplay features of the highly anticipated PS3 first person shooter, Killzone 2. While the game is mostly known for its graphics technology, gamers should be most curious about the way the game plays. Certainly, is the gameplay as advanced as the way it looks? Watch this new footage to see the cover and aiming system in work in this new video.

How did Guerrilla pull of its distinctive "Killzone look?" Their Develop presentation was all about "deferred rendering," a process which adds Hollywood-quality visual effects to the images rendered by the PS3. Extensive post-process effects allowed the team to create "highly dynamic lighting in environments" with "complex geometry" and "MSAA" -- whatever that is.

Those with technical know-how will appreciate the Develop presentation the team delivered, which goes into some intricate detail about how much SPU power is being used by the game. Even with already-impressive results, the team has a long way to go. In fact, there are still "a lot of features planned," such as: ambient occlusion, contact shadows, shadows on transparent geometry, more efficient anti-aliasing, and dynamic radiosity.

[Thanks, sheppy!]

Read - Presentation (in PDF form)

The BBC warns you right away that when you "sit down in front of a playable level ... it is immediately clear that Killzone 2 will be one of the most cinematic and immersive games ever produced on a console." Those are some big words to describe an incomplete game! If only that were all, but the BBC continues its praise by assuring PS3 fans that Killzone 2 looks like something you'd only see on a high-end PC.

Not everything was rosy, though. The BBC criticized the incomplete build, stating the "game mechanics of the level I saw are not particularly innovative," and that overall "Killzone 2 is an archetypal shooter - a futuristic action title that draws on the symbolism of World War II to create a sense of familiarity." Throwing grenades still needs some work, and the hyper-realistic violence will probably spark more debate about the worn-out violence-in-videogames stance. We don't really care -- we just want to get our hands on this game!

After winning the Special Commendation Award for Graphics, Guerrila Games' managing director Hermen Hulst answered some questions about their reaction to getting such a prize, especially after all the hype and expectation. Since playability of your title was a requirement for getting nominated, Hulst is particularly flattered.

About all that hype and expectation, Hulst commented that while the 2005 E3 trailer was ambitious, it remained achievable. They fully intend to live up to the promise of the original trailer and will work on the game until they feel it's ready for the public. Since they got an award that only playable games should have been considered for, we also think they're moving on the right track. The final product will undoubtedly look far superior to even the demo we saw at E3 this year.

Lucky for you, we check Gametrailers all the time for the latest footage of our favorite games. If the downloadable E3 trailer of Killzone 2 from the PS Store wasn't enough to satisfy, we've got some more in-game footage detailing parts of the demo we weren't able to see. Sure, there's a lot of button-pushing and tower-shooting, but to think about all that's happening on screen at any single moment is pretty awe-inspiring. Much more happening on these battlefields than, say, in narrow corridors. Let us know what you think!

The infamous Killzone 2 trailer of E3 2005. An unbelievable and completely improbable feat of gaming technology, quickly debunked as rubbish. This year, however, Sony returned with not only a real time demonstration of Killzone 2, but a playable tour as well. Before E3 had even begun, we knew that nothing could possibly prevent the tears, bitter or no, of the fiercely devoted.

With an uneasy hand, we present the collapsing of the universe: GameVideos' Killzone 2 comparison. The original CGI fest going toe-to-toe with the real deal. It's not entirely fair, however, as the real time video tends to feature the marines flying around for too long, but that won't stop the endless debates.

[Update - For those who just can't get enough, GameTrailers also released a comparison of their own, in high-def no less.]